Niagara Falls: Home of the Rain Ponchos!!

Our next planned stop was one we were all looking forward to: Niagara Falls. It was such a long drive that we were going to need more than 1 day to get there, especially since we were going to drive along highway 2, the scenic route through New Hampshire and Vermont. What an amazing drive that was! It was just beautiful. Even though we were a few weeks before the fall colors really hit, we got a hint every now and then. It was kind of funny. You would be driving along and enjoying the green, tree covered rolling hills when suddenly there would be a bright red or orange tree right in the middle. We could imagine how spectacular it must be during peak fall color!

Yes, the drive was long, but we enjoyed it. One of the stops we made along the way was to Christie's in New Hampshire where we saw how maple syrup was made. They had samples of several different grades of syrup for us to taste and this lovely maple cream that I fell in love with! In the barn we saw some old memorabilia including old giant wooden barrels used for hauling the syrup in from the trees to the barn. These things held 200 gallons! That sounds like a lot, but when boiled down it only makes 7 gallons of syrup! We bought ourselves a limited amount of syrup and some maple candy and got back on the road again. We figured we would find many more such places in Vermont. We didn't and had to settle for a gift shop to buy more syrup for friends and family.

We drove and we drove and we drove some more. We hadn't booked a campsite, because we wanted to get as close to Niagara Falls as possible so that we could maximize our time there the next day. When we finally figured out where we felt we should stay it was after 8pm. We tried to call the campground, but there was no answer. When we got to the campground, it was after 10:00. There was a sign up saying that if we hadn't paid up front, we couldn't enter, but we figured we would just set up camp and settle the fees in the morning. Marcus worked hard to settle up with the guy in the morning. He was somewhat upset that we didn't have reservations, but I'm not sure he would have noticed if we hadn't said anything. Anyway, Marcus finally got it sorted out, but we were all pretty uncomfortable with the whole thing and decided we would never go without reservations again!

Now that was settled, we were off to the falls! We still had 3 more hours of driving to get there. We had heard that we wanted to go to the Canadian side of the falls for the best viewing so we headed for the border. We were a bit worried about whether they would want to search our trailer at customs. What a pain that would be to have to put it up there and then! They didn't thank goodness! They asked a few questions, looked at our papers, and sent us on our merry way. This meant that we had now been in all 3 countries on this continent this summer! How cool are we?!

Wow! The falls were big! Not so much tall, just big...lots of water. Very impressive! Marcus directed me to a parking lot where we could park, trailer and all, and get a shuttle to the falls. We got on the shuttle and were part way there, when I remembered I hadn't brought the camera with us! We got out at the first stop and headed back to the car. There is no seeing the falls without a camera!!! Colin grabbed his too! Now that we were properly prepared, we got back on the shuttle and set off for the falls (again).

There were 4 main falls activities to choose from. We decided we would do them all! The first was a 4D IMAX movie. They provided rain ponchos, so we knew we were about to get wet... in a movie?! They had a little cartoon thing at the beginning that was supposed to give us info on how the falls were formed, but it was pretty disjointed and kinda lame. Then we shuffled into the IMAX room where we were splashed and doused with water as the movie took us right up to the falls. That part was fun. Next we went on The Journey Behind the Falls. We were issued another poncho and set off into a set of tunnels that took us behind the falls. There were a few openings where you could look out at the water as it rushes down. It was loud and misty! Then we went out right beside the falls. The vantage was amazing! The splashing was pretty amazing too. After that it was time for lunch. We sat and ate while sitting on the rock wall with the falls right in front of us. What a view. From this point we could see across to the American side quite well. It looked like the view from that side would be limited, but there was a hike there that we wished we could go on. It took people down by a small part of the falls and it looked like one would get good and wet! Finally, it was time for the Maid in the Mist! This was a little boat that took us up close and personal to the falls. Again, we were issued our rain ponchos. I mean, really... how many ponchos does 1 need?! Well, I can tell you, we needed this one! We boarded the boat and boy did we get close to those falls! The mist was thick. It was hard to take photos. You had to take one and then dry off your lens before you could take another. It was an incredible experience though! The power of that water pounding over the falls made me feel a bit small and insignificant. Put me in my place but not in a bad way, just amazed me at the power and beauty of nature! Yes, we got very wet. It was great. I highly recommend it!

Derek had started to not feel very well earlier in the day, and was not up for our final adventure which was to hike by the falls. It was getting a bit late, and we weren't sure where we were staying that night, so we agreed to skip the hike. We said farewell to the falls and took the shuttle back to our car. As Marcus drove, I researched where we might stay. I found a Canadian KOA that seemed like the right distance, so that was the plan. We got there a little before 8, partially set up the trailer (we didn't pull our bed all the way out so we could stay hooked up to the car) and settled in for bed. Marcus and I discussed just how early we wanted to get up to leave for our second trip to Tennessee... it would be a long drive for 1 day! We agreed on 6 (I thought).

I guess I need to back up a little and say that Marcus and the boys had both had mild colds starting in Maine. I had been gloating that my superior immune system was keeping me from getting sick. Of course I jinxed myself. On the drive to the KOA, I began to have the dreaded symptoms of a bad one coming on. That night, as everyone else slept, I just couldn't. I was so sick by this time, I couldn't breathe through my nose at all. I couldn't get comfortable. I also kept having to go to the bathroom, which was quite a long walk in the dark. I don't think I slept more than a few hours that night. I was finally in a nice deep sleep when Marcus tapped me on the head and said it was time to go. It wasn't 6 by the way! It was 5!!! I was mad! Sick and mad. We took down the trailer in the dark, and started on our way back to see the cousins again.

Maine

Acadia Maine!! We were so excited we were staying here for 5 Nights!!! That was the most our family had spent alone in one spot the whole trip! We got to Acadia late in the afternoon and were worried that we would have difficulty finding a place to camp within the National Park. We headed straight for the first campground and sure enough, they were out of spots. We had to go around the island to get to the other campground. Due to my stellar navigating skills, we got lost along the way. We would have enjoyed seeing so much of the island if we weren't so concerned about getting a spot! When we finally got to the campground, Marcus went in, and sure enough there was 1 spot and it was available for 5 nights!! They had just had a cancellation over the phone. If we had gotten there sooner, we would have been turned away. I guess we were lucky I got us lost, huh?! The campground was very nice. This was a National Park, so there were no hook ups or showers, but the place was just beautiful! They DID provide firewood for the season. Unfortunately, the season was over and they ran out of the free stuff, but we got some, and buying more wasn't that big of a price to pay for being in such a great spot for 5 NIGHTS!!

We decided to check out the tide pooling. We had heard such great things about it! I don't know if we were in the wrong place, but we were disappointed. We are used to California tide pooling where we see lots of crabs, star fish, and sea anemones. Here, we didn't see much besides snails and seaweed. The water was really cold too. I think it was colder than our water in northern California! We had definitely left the warm water behind us as we traveled north.

We had driven with our bikes on top of the trailer all over the country (which was not so easy on them with all the rain, bugs, hot sun etc. can I just say). We had taken them down as part of set up, and put them back up as part of take down, countless times with much sweating involved. Many times we didn't end up using them at all. Here, we were in a place where we could do some riding. The boys in particular, rode a lot. There was a group of kids that all rode their bikes all over the campground.

Our two tanks of propane had lasted us the whole trip so far, but we finally ran out with using the heater at night. Marcus left to go refill the tanks in the morning. It took him a few hours. After he got back and replaced the tanks the fridge still wasn't working. Here we were with no hook ups, so propane was our only way to make the fridge work. It was back to ice chests for us! Marcus is so ready to get rid of this trailer! (It turned out just to be an air bubble in the gas line that fixed itself during the drive to the next spot.)

One day Marcus took Colin to a ranger program on stream health, while Derek and I went to one on sketching in the park. We were led by an artist in residence. She taught us how to pick out what we wanted to draw, and then we all sat and sketched. The premise is that this way people will slow down enough to enjoy the park and get to know it instead of just drive by viewing. Colin and Marcus both really enjoyed the stream program and took the only walk we did on the carriage trails. Now we need to go back and explore all the other carriage trails in the park.

When in Maine one must eat lobster, right?! Marcus (our fearless hunter and gatherer) went out to search for the perfect lobsters. He came back with three big lobsters. We dined on claws and such, but when we broke into the main body, the boys were pretty disgusted with the insides. They were used to eating crab that had been cleaned out, this lobster was not. It was full of green stuff. That put Derek off eating any more of that, thank you very much! We had lobster one other night, but Derek didn't want any then either. It was yummy, but we think we must be crab people.

One of the things Marcus was looking forward to about Maine was the blueberries. He has fond memories of picking them wild to his heart's content as a child. We were hoping to do the same this trip. Only, we were a little late. We missed them all but the dozen stragglers Marcus found on a trail. Marcus did find a place where he could buy some, but they were the dregs and not so impressive. Now we will have to go back to Maine sometime and do it right.

We had a neighbor in the campground that was very friendly and that we enjoyed talking to! She was in her 80s, traveled alone in her camper with her kayak strapped on the back, and was just a friendly, happy person. She met up with friends here and there, but was quite independent. I told Marcus I want to be like that when I am her age. He said we're not even like her at our age... We have some changes to make! She is my new inspiration. Thank you Connie, wherever you are!

On one of the days we walked during low tide across to another island. We had 90 minutes before the tide would came back in. Part of the walk over was quite strong smelling of rotting seaweed. When we got to the island, we found bunches of cairns made by other such visitors. Of course this meant that we too had to leave our mark! We found some that were particularly nice with arches and keystones and everything! That was fun. We also sat and watched the seagulls as they picked up clams, flew high in the sky and dropped them so the shells would break and they could eat the insides. After our 90 minutes, we went to breakfast in town and did a bit of window shopping. I was intrigued by all the Tourmaline in the windows. It turns out that Tourmaline is Maine's state rock. We were intrigued enough to get a gift for Li and one for me! Next we took an auto tour on Park Loop Road. We stopped at Sand Beach to enjoy the view and the ocean. The weather was unseasonably warm for Maine... in the 80s. But again, the water was very cold. My three crazy boys still got in! The boys enjoyed digging in the sand, and we had a picnic on the rocks there. As we were sitting on the rocks, a family behind us was eating and a seagull swooped down and stole some of the woman's sandwich right out of her hand and scratched her a bit with its claws during its getaway! Those were some aggressive gulls! As you can see in the above photo, we had some Cheetos with us for our picnic. Colin likes to get into his food! Next it was on to the blow hole. It was the peak time for it... just before high tide. We found a great rock to sit on for our vantage point. It was hard to time the photo to get the full impact, but I got some good video footage. Finally, we hiked around Cadillac Mountain. We learned about the type of granite found there, and the geological history of the area. Acadia really is a very cool place with lots to do and see. We met people that have gone there every year for generations.

One of my most exciting adventures of the whole trip happened at Acadia. I believe I mentioned there were no showers at the campground and that we were staying there for 5 nights?! Well, I think we can all agree that that is entirely too long for a family of 4 to go without showering, yes?! There was a small local grocery store about 5 miles away that had showers available. They had a men's and a women's shower room with a little hallway in between the two that goes through a part of the store. Anyway, the showers were a dollar for 3 minutes. Derek likes to take long hot showers and he was complaining that 3 minutes wasn't nearly long enough. I thought to myself, heck, I can take a business shower in three minutes or less, grabbed four quarters from Marcus and headed into the women's shower room. I was smart. I got myself all organized so that once I put my quarters in, I would be ready to spring into business shower mode, thus maximising the use of my 3 minutes. What I hadn't thought of, was that it might take a high percentage of that time to get the water temperature out of the scalding or freezing zones and into one that I could stay in. I had just gotten all soaped up, when I thought this would be a really bad time for the water to turn off on me. Sure enough, that is what happened. I could hear Marcus in the men's shower room with the boys telling them of course 3 minutes was enough, mom only took 1 dollar with her because she knew it was enough. That's when I piped up. I explained my wet and soapy situation. Unfortunately, Marcus and the boys were in their own showers soaped up, so they couldn't help me. It was time for desperate measures. I wrapped my soapy self in my towel, and dripped my way across the hallway of the store, entered the men's shower room, got my quarters from Marcus, and dripped my way back to the women's shower room all while the store owner smirked. I got clean, I got dry, I got out of there. We all giggled about it in the car on the way back, and I think I will always laugh as I think of that!

While we were staying in Acadia, Colin did another Jr. Ranger Badge. Each park has their own way of handling the badges. Some make bigger deals out of them than others. This ranger made a very big deal out of it. He interviewed Colin, and really asked him about the things he had learned. He let Colin wear his Ranger hat, and had him raise his hand as he took the oath to protect the park. He made sure I had a camera so that I could take a photo of the event. It was nice. He also told us all about how Peregrine Falcons get married. Apparently, the male shows off his flying skills to the female. If she seems interested, the male then goes and hunts to offer the female something. If the female is really interested, she flies underneath the male and takes the offering from his talons and they become husband and wife and live happily ever after. Kinda cool, huh?!

We were well rested, and ready for the next leg of our trip, the long journey to Niagara Falls. But we were still sad to leave! We had been there so long it almost felt like home!

Cape Cod/Plimoth Village

We left New Jersey in the rain. Marcus and I went out to hook up the trailer to the car and in that 10 minutes we were both soaked! At some point we had lost one of the pins to the sway bar, so Marcus felt it was more dangerous to have it on than off. We were headed off for a fun drive! We were following Lowell and Elyse. The traffic was heavy, the rain was heavy, the wind was heavy, the trailer was heavy... we were slow. It was very hard to stay together! We were on our way to Cape Cod, with an overnight stop to visit Janet, a friend of Elyse's and take her to dinner for her birthday. We got to Janet's place and quickly set up our trailer in her neighbor's driveway. Then we headed out to a Thai restaurant for dinner. I was a bit worried that the boys would have a hard time finding something they liked, but they did just fine. Lowell and Elyse made a big announcement at dinner. Apparently, they had become engaged in the spring and were waiting for the right moment to tell us. Wow! big news! We are excited for them and wish them the best! That night we slept in our little trailer in the rain. It had become home to us. The next morning Janet made us a pancake breakfast while Marcus and I took down the trailer in the drizzle. It seemed we had set up under a tree that dropped lotsa little berries in the wind and the rain, leaving little berry stains all over the car. They didn't seem to want to come off really easily... That was going to be fun to clean! We headed back in for breakfast and had a nice visit before it was time to depart for Mystic Seaport and Cape Cod.

Mystic is a historical seaport village that has been turned into a living history museum. There are ships, shops and shows. There was plenty of hands-on stuff for the boys to do. Colin made a sailboat, Derek tried his hand at knots and various games of the times. We all explored an old whaling ship that was being refurbished and learned about the whaling times. The boys and I were in a play. It was almost all good: We could have done without the drizzle. After Mystic, we headed to Cape Cod to set up camp. The rain was picking up. We set up the trailer in the dark and the rain. We couldn't imagine Lowell and Elyse and Micah setting up a tent in the rain... yuck! We had them join us in the trailer. They took the boys bed, Colin slept with us, Derek took the table bed, and Micah had the floor. We were all damp. It was crowded, but it worked. We had a funky, makeshift dinner and called it a day.

The next morning we awoke to be greeted by... you got it: more rain. Ok, it was mostly drizzle, but still! This was our time in Cape Cod! We found a place to go out (or should I say in ) for breakfast. Next we were off to explore the Cape. Apparently, Obama was visiting Martha's Vineyard at the time, so we decided not to go there. We stopped at several beaches and watched the wild surf. We headed into Province Town where we climbed the many steps of the Pilgrim Monument. Or at least most of us did. Derek stayed in the car. He was boycotting history. He was done with it. He'd seen enough! The view from there was spectacular, but the winds were very strong and the rain would spray you when you were least expecting it. That evening we dined out again. The place had an old boat filled with water, displaying a bunch of live lobsters. The boys and I went and named many of them. Our favorite was, The Claw! He was huge! None of us had lobster that night, we couldn't quite bear to kill any of them.

The next morning was even rainier than the last few! We had a hurried breakfast in the trailer and did our take down in the rain. We were heading for Plimoth Village. And yes, I know I spelled it with an i instead of a y, but that is how they spell it. It seems that both ways were used historically, and they chose to use this one for the Village. This was to be another hands on historical village. It wasn't so much. It was more demonstration, but there wasn't much the boys could actually get their hands on. Colin was a bit disappointed, and as I said, Derek was done with history anyway. The village was set up as it would have been. Chickens ran freely. The rustic buildings were open with people portraying what the Pilgrims might have been doing... cooking, gardening...I found it quite interesting. The Mayflower 2 was cool. It is a replica of the original and it is amazing to think of so many people living for so long on such a small ship. And to think, they spent most of their time stuck in the smelly, dark hold. Wow!

For the grand finale, we went and saw the Plymouth Rock. It was underwhelming. No one is precisely sure that this was the actual rock anyway. It was broken at one point and cemented back together. Besides the fact that the Pilgrims first landed on a little island off shore. Other than that... it's a rock!

We said our farewells to Lowell, Elyse and Micah. They were off to a trip to the Galapagos and we were headed to Boston. We had enjoyed our time at the Cape, but we could have done without the rain, rain, and more rain!

Colvins revisited...Jacksonville Florida

Sunday August 1st, we picked up our trailer, and left Orlando, heading for Jacksonville Florida. Derek's friend Eric was joining us again. This time he was coming with his mother, Suzi. I think she had heard how much fun Craig and Eric had when they visited, and wanted some fun of her own! They were leaving on a cruise from Ft. Lauderdale, so this was not completely out of the way. Anyway, we got to Jacksonville and set up camp at Little Talbot State Park. It was a neat place! Suzi dropped Eric off after they arrived. She had to work the next day, so she needed space and connectivity, so she was hoteling it for the night.

The next morning Marcus was up early, and came back to get us all. There was a river running through the campground that folks were fishing in. On the banks of the river were gazillions of tiny little fiddler crabs all scurrying around. They would pop into a nearby hole when you walked by. It was very fun!! The three boys had a great time with that for quite a while.

After breakfast we headed to the beach. To get to the beach, we had to walk on a long boardwalk over the dunes. Eric noticed a tortoise walking on the dunes. We stopped to watch. The tortoise chomped on the vegetation growing on the dunes, and ended up walking right across our path!! Eric had just read about Gopher Tortoises and their being endangered. When we did our research later we found that sure enough, we had encountered one right there on our way to the beach! Once we got to the beach, one of the first sights we saw was an area roped off with posts and caution tape. A bright yellow sign pronounced that this was the site of a sea turtle nest and not to disturb! How exciting! I had always wanted to see sea turtle nests!! Very cool!

At the beach, the water was perfect! The waves were perfect! The weather was perfect!! It was all perfect!! It was so perfect that Marcus went back and made us lunch so we could continue our fun. It was during lunch that I noticed how red Derek's shoulders were getting. We were all feeling a bit sunned out, so we headed back to the trailer. Sure enough, Derek had quite a sunburn! Colin did too on his arms, and cheeks, and Eric on the back of his neck! Ah well, the price we had to pay for such perfection! That evening Suzi came to the trailer for dinner. We thought perhaps she would stay with us that night, but it was too hot to make the boys sleep in a tent as they had the last visit, and between the limited room, and the need for connectivity, she opted to hotel it again. Perhaps I should have joined her!! That night, I decided not to walk all the way to the bathroom. I would be brave, and pee behind a bush... apparently, I peed on a big root. It caused much splashing action, splashing it right into my face and all over my legs!! I was so grossed out!! I ran into the trailer and washed my face and legs and changed my jammies! How does one pee in their own face? I found a way! Yes, perhaps I should have joined Suzi in her hotel!! I'm sure she didn't have the same issue!

The next morning, Marcus woke up bright and early and took off for a bike ride on the beach (notice a pattern here?). When he came back, he said there were fresh turtle nests and we all had to go see them. I drove the car while he led the boys on bikes to the beach. Then I climbed on my bike and he ran, showing us the way. On the way we saw a giant horseshoe crab washed up on the beach. The sand was firm and easy to ride on. It was a beautiful morning! We found the sea turtle nest. It looked like an ATV had come up out of the ocean, to the dunes, churned up the sand some, and then headed back. It turns out those were Loggerhead Turtle nests! According to the rangers, you can tell what kind of nest it is, by the pattern leading to it. Most turtles move across the sand with both front flippers moving at the same time, (like the dolphin stroke in swimming) but loggerheads alternate their flippers. Also, they have little tails, so they don't have the middle drag mark from a tail. They dig a hole and bury the eggs making it smooth, vs. other turtles, that leave mounds. The eggs take 60 days to hatch. The baby turtles hatch at night and make the dangerous trek to sea. We rode for about 2 miles on the beach. Marcus had already done it once, then ran the whole way with us the second time. He was sweaty, but still full of energy, but the boys were all pooped out! Perhaps we need to increase our training regimen!

One additional nice thing we noticed about Little Talbot State Park was there were fewer mosquitoes! Perhaps we would heal after all! Maybe we wouldn't need to buy stock in the cortaid company after all. We thought we might have an insider tip for you all! Never mind!